E-Satisfaction of NTO's Website

Case Study: Singapore Tourism Board's Taiwan Website

Yi Fen Kao
Panos Louvieris
Jan Powell-Perry
Dimitrios Buhalis

School of Management,
University of Surrey, UK

{msm3yk, Panos.Louvieris, J.Powell-Perry, D.Buhalis}@surrey.ac.uk

Abstract
This paper fills the gap in literature regarding research of NTO's overseas office marketing
efforts and adopting Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) Traditional Chinese (TC) website as a
case study to examine Taiwanese consumers' satisfactions toward the NTO website. Through
an online questionnaire available on STB Taiwan website's homepage, 257 useable responses
were collected. The findings demonstrate that firstly, users* desired information generally
pertains to transportation, local maps and accommodation. Secondly, information quality
contributed to the website satisfaction more than system quality. Thirdly, the website
satisfaction is positively correlated to the intention to reuse and recommendation of the website
to other users. However, the intention to actually visit Singapore is un-correlated to the website
satisfaction. Thus, NTOs should continuously determine their customers* satisfaction and
experience during their visit to the website by the e-Satisfaction model proposed and developed
in this study.

Keywords: National Tourism Organisation (NTO), Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Taiwan,
Satisfaction, website, Internet marketing.

1 Introduction
It has been known for some time that the diffusion of the information technologies in
tourism improved travel service supply in efficiency, quality and flexibility (Poon,
1989). The growth in the number of global Internet users is reported to have reached
785 million (IWS, 2004) and the Internet is one of the most influential technologies
that change travellers' behaviours. The Internet enables online travellers to receive
the real-time updated and unlimited travel information before travelling abroad, and
ultimately their final choice of destination to visit. Therefore, information provision
through destination website plays a crucial role in influencing decision-making and
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increasing actual arrivals. In the light of this technological trend and development,
National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) need to monitor their provision of online
travel information and continuously ascertain that it meets the needs of travellers and
develop customised online marketing strategies to correspond to these needs. As a
result, ability to accurately measure consumers' satisfactions and experiences on their
visitation to a NTO's website is essential to improving online service quality.

In the customer contact process across the travel life cycle, the overseas office is a
significant determinant. Before the real visit to the destination, consumers interact
with the overseas office in source countries, and the performance of the overseas
office can influence consumers' decision-making to a great extent. However, the
importance of the office abroad is often ignored in the literature and real world.

Many researchers use NTO main websites as the examining sample to target
international travellers. Their formulation of methodology could be biased because of
the language barrier between the destination websites and the consumers from source
countries. Although the main website of the NTOs is often considered to have better
quality, consumers whom are from different language background might not be able
to use the main site. In order to find out the actual need from the source countries,
this study will focus on Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) Traditional Chinese (TC)
website which is independently operated by the overseas office in Taiwan and which
targets the Taiwanese travellers. Therefore, Taiwanese online travellers' satisfactions
for the use of STB website will be investigated. The objectives of this exploratory
study are as follows:
- To develop an e-Satisfaction model for NTOs.
- To determine the factors of the website satisfaction.
- Critical investigate the features preferred by STB Taiwan website users.
- To find out the relationships between NTO website satisfaction and consumers'
predictive behaviours.

2 Internet Consumer and Online Satisfaction

The Internet is one of the fastest growing media (Balabanis and Vassileiou, 1999).
This electronic battlefield is rapidly changing the way people conduct their business.
In order to better understand how Internet consumers behave, several studies have
been done during recent years (Weber and Roehl, 1999; Werthner and Klein, 1999;
King, Lee, Warkentin and Chung, 2002; Thomson and Laing, 2003; Cai, Feng and
Breiter, 2004).

A number of studies pointed out that overall online users tend to be younger, richer
and better educated than the average consumers (King, Lee, Warkentin and Chung,
2002; Yip and Law, 2002; Thomson and Laing, 2003). The tendency might be
because of sophistication of computer usage and the cost of buying the facilities. In
Fu and Salvendy's (2002) research, the most common web activities are purely
gathering information (86.3 %), searching (63.01 %) and browsing (61.27 %).
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Some studies have also revealed that 'user-friendly system', 'rapid information
searching', 'comprehensive destination information before a trip' and 'a range of
prices available to accommodate different budget needs' are the important attributes
for a successful travel website. 'Availability of virtual tours of destination',
'presentation style e.g. background colour, photos', and 'online bookings through
DMSs (Destination Management Systems)' are less important for travellers (Law and
Wong, 2003; Nysveen, Methlie and Pedersen, 2003).

Kim and Lim (2001) stated that the more consumers consider information quality an
important factor, the higher the probability that they intend to buy the product. The
width, update and depth of information are the top three variables which consumers
perceive to be most important, and advertising, entertainment and free gifts are the
least important. This may indicate that NTOs should be aware that the core function
of a website is information seeking and concerned more with useful information
instead of the frill functions that entertain customers.

More and more tourists are using the Internet for travel planning purposes. The
Internet provides consumers with faster and plentiful information for researching the
destination of interest. According to Werthner and Klein (1999), Internet consumers
are looking for more specialised information and ask for better services. NTOs must
now be concerned with the effort to ensure that the destinations provide a total high-
quality visitor experience. Thus, studying online satisfaction has become important
for NTOs since an NTO website which is difficult to use may cause frustrations and
discourage travellers from visiting the destination.

3 E-Satisfaction Model
Several pieces of research have been conducted to examine website satisfaction
(Szymanski and Hise, 2000; Liu, Arnett and Litecky, 2000; McKinney, Yoon and
Zaheki, 2002; Mills and Morrison, 2003; Shchiglik and Barnes, 2004). Different
models have been developed to measure the websites in different domains. Some are
designed for commercially oriented websites while others might be specifically for
the tourism-related field. Due to different characteristics of the websites, the above
five models applied different constructs to measure website satisfaction. Overall,
information quality and system quality are widely adopted in most models.
Information quality examines the relevance, accuracy, timeliness, ease of
understanding and valuable of information. System quality can test if the website is
quick to load, of clear design, simple to use and easy to navigate. These two
dimensions are more generalised in testing the satisfaction of various websites.

In this study, information quality and system quality were used to be the independent
variables to examine website satisfaction (Fig. 1). For NTOs, it is also important to
know the customers' intentions after using the website. Therefore, the relations
between website satisfaction and customers' intentions to reuse and recommend STB
website were investigated. Furthermore, the relationship between website satisfaction
and the actual intention to visit Singapore was also identified.
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Intention to reuse
Information H3 *
HI the website
Quality

Web ' H4 Intention to

" ^ Satisfaction recommend website
System K
Quality H2 H5\ Intention to actual
visit Singapore

Fig. 1 Hypothesised Framework of This Study

Adapted from McKinney et al's (2002) Model

4 Methodology

The performance of NTO overseas offices can influence consumers' decision-making

to a great extent. As a useful marketing tool, NTO websites need to be examined by
the consumers in source countries. In this paper, Taiwanese online travellers'
satisfactions toward the STB TC website were evaluated.
The Internet is a cost-effective and powerful instrument for conducting consumer
behaviour. Using the Internet is faster, cheaper and can reach more assorted
audiences without geographical limitation than offline surveys (King, Lee, Warkentin
and Chung, 2002; Sekaran, 2003). Online questionnaires are applied to collect the
primary data for this research and a link on the homepage of STB Taiwan website was
available for participants to click into the survey form from 17 June to 19 July 2004.
All website visitors during the survey period had an equal chance of being self-
selected as a subject. This sampling design has less bias and offers more
generalisability.

However, there are many limitations with self-selected online surveys. Firstly, Veal
(1997) stated that a large percentage of the population fail to submit the questionnaire,
unless someone is available to encourage their completion and return, and people who
return the questionnaires are more likely to have strong opinions in an 'uncontrolled'
survey. Because this research was online surveys, no field staff could encourage the
respondents. Incentives are considered to be one good solution to improve the
response rate for self-selected surveys as some studies have been discussed (King,
Lee, Warkentin and Chung, 2002; Whiteman, Langenberg, Kjerulff, McCarter and
Flaws, 2003). Therefore, giveaways were prepared and sponsored by STB Taiwan
office to encourage more respondents to reply and minimise the bias.
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Secondly, Thompson, Surface, Martin and Sanders (2003) argued that electronic
surveys do not ensure one person filling one survey. The same person might
complete multiple online questionnaires. In response to this suspicion, all responses
have been checked through respondents' contact information collected in the survey
to avoid the problem.

Last but not least, the survey administrator has less control over the appearance of a
web-based questionnaire compared to a traditional paper one (Thompson et al, 2003).
The hardware platforms, browser settings and user preferences may vary from person
to person (Couper, 2000; Dillman, 2000). Hence, the design of this questionnaire was
kept as simple as possible. Only one picture was used to increase the presentation of
the questionnaire in order to attract more respondents.
The questionnaire was built upon a literature review of website satisfaction and
comprised of 40 questions excluding personal contact for sending out the giveaway
and checking duplication. The survey was divided into four sections. Firstly, users'
perceptions of the importance of each feature on the website were collected. A total
of 15 features were selected from the STB Taiwan website. Secondly, e-Satisfaction
will be measured by a total of 11 questions of information quality and system
quality dimensions. Then, customers' intentions to reuse website, recommend
website and actually visit Singapore were assessed in third section. Finally, general
demographic data were collected in the end of survey.

A total of 283 responses were collected from 17 June to 19 July 2004 and the total
website visitor numbers in the survey period was 771. The participation rate was 36%
(283 / 771 = 36 %). The high response rate showed that the users were very
concerned about online services and offered comments that would aid future
improvements.

5 Analysis of Research Findings and Discussion

After eliminating the 26 responses due to complaint cases, data duplication (one
person responses more than once) and blank reply, a total of 257 usable responses
were obtained. The total frequency of all single answer questions was 257 since the
programme coding required users to fill in so that there is no missing data in this
study. The users profile revealed that the majority of STB Taiwan website users are
female (72.4%), age between 21-40 years old (83.5%), are highly educated (94.5%
having college above education), live in Northern Taiwan (69.6%) and more than half
of the users (52.5%) have past visit experiences.

The reliability and validity of the instrument used in this study is proved. Cronbach's
Alpha is 0.8897 and 0.9167 in information quality and system quality dimension
respectively. The correlation of each item in the same dimension is high and the
values of information quality are from 0.53 to 0.79 and values of system quality are
from 0.51 to 0.80 (convergent validity). Moreover, the correlation between different
dimensions is low and the values are mainly in 0.40 to 0.50 (discriminant validity).
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After confirmed the goodness of the instrument, it is found that average overall
satisfaction of STB Taiwan website is 4.10 and Std. Deviation is 0.535. Most users
(71.53%) felt satisfied with the website and a further 19.46% of users were very
satisfied. The results of testing five hypotheses are also given below:

HI: Satisfaction increases as perceptions of information quality become more positive

H2: Satisfaction increases as perceptions of system quality become more positive

The P value is a measure of the overall significance of the linear multiple regression
equation. In Table 1, the small value of 0.00 (significant level 0.05) suggests that the
multiple regression has good overall significance and is usable for predictions.
Hence, it is appropriate to predict 'overall satisfaction' based on the weights of
information quality and system quality. R square also measures how well the
multiple regression equation fits the sample data. In this case, it indicates that 45% of
the variation in 'overall satisfaction' can be explained by the weight of information
quality and system quality. According to the Beta value, both information quality
(0.43) and system quality (0.30) are positively correlated to overall satisfaction and
more contributions are from information quality.

Table 1. Estimating Overall Satisfaction:

Linear Multiple Regression Analysis (n=257)
B Std.E Beta T Sig
(Constant) 1.28 0.19 6.57 0.00
MeanlQ 0.40 0.05 0.43 7.07 0.00
MeanSQ 0.28 0.05 0.30 4.97 0.00

Multiple R 0.67
R Square 0.45
Adjusted R2 0.45
Std E 0.39
F(2,39)=l 07.41 P = 0.00

H3: Website satisfaction is positively related to the intention to reuse the website

The correlation between overall satisfaction and STB Taiwan website users'
intentions to reuse the website is 0.436 (Sig = 0.00). The hypothesis 3 is supported
and the relation between overall website satisfaction and the intention to reuse is
moderate and positive. The majority of users (97.3%) intend to reuse the STB
Taiwan website whereas only less than 3% of users not sure at the moment.

H4: Website satisfaction is positively related to the intention to recommend the

website to others
The correlation between overall satisfaction and the users' intentions to recommend
the STB Taiwan website is 0.497 (Sig = 0.00) so that the hypothesis 4 is supported.
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There is a moderate positive relation between overall website satisfaction and users'
intentions to recommend the STB Taiwan website. 53% of users are very likely to
recommend the website to their friends; 42.8% of users are likely to recommend the
website; 3.5% of users are unsure and only 0.4% of users do not want to recommend
at all. Respondents seem more cautious to recommend the website compared with the
intention to reuse the website.

H5: Website satisfaction is positively related to the intention to actually visit

Singapore

The correlation between overall satisfaction and the intention of STB Taiwan website
users to actually visit Singapore is 0.127. This low figure means there is no relation
between users' overall satisfactions toward the website and their intentions to visit
Singapore. This finding can be said to be consistent with previous study (Cooper,
Fletcher, Wanhill, Gilbert and Shepherd, 1998) where, travel-buying behaviour is a
complexity process and the elements that influence the process, including personal,
external, social and cultural factors. In this light, website services are kind of
destination pull (external factor) in customers' information collection stage therefore,
the satisfaction of the website may not be the only one factor which influence
customers in making their travel-buying decisions.

Over half of users (52.5%) indicated an interest to visit Singapore but have yet to
commit a firm travel plan. Another 40.1 % of users expressed their interest to visit
Singapore by the end of year (before Sep 2004 + Oct to Dec 2004). Moreover, 65%
of website users stated that they would buy packages including air tickets and hotel
rooms when they visit Singapore, while 19.1% of users are independent travellers
who will arrange the trips by themselves. This might specify that around 85% of
users need more information to make decision in buying travel packages and how to
arrange an enjoyable trip. Finally, the percentage of potential group travellers is only
15.6. This low percentage might show that the majority website users are non-group
tour package travellers and they are the target segment of the website.

Users' Preference for Website Information

Figure 2 shows the desired online information that users want to see. The information
of transportation, maps and accommodation are chosen by about 80% of STB Taiwan
website users as the most important information. More than 50% of users seek
information about local attractions, travel packages, food, introduction and suggested
itineraries. The requirements of STB Taiwan website users are similar to previous
studies mentioned in literature review. Kotler, Bowen and Makens (2003) pointed out
that the information relating to transportation, accommodation and entertainments are
necessary for planning a trip. In this study, most users also assigned this information
with the highest mark.
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Users' Expectation of Future Website Improvement

Figure 3 explains STB Taiwan website users' expectations of the improvement in the
future. Firstly, approximately 80% of users indicated their interest to see a catalogue
of free travel brochures offered by the STB Taiwan office. Secondly, 72.4% of users
required travel package information to facilitate their buying decisions. Thirdly, 63%
of users need travel suggestions to help them in planning the trips. Moreover, more
than half respondents would like to use the online hotel booking function and
download eBrochures by themselves. The next feature is travel agent contact
information (31.1%), followed by more attractive images on the website (27.2%) and
travel related advertisement (25.7%). Last but not least, only 2.3% of users consider
that the information on the website is enough. It certainly reflects to management that
there are still various aspects for improvement.

Fig. 2 Importance of Website Information (by percentage of Mode)

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Fig. 3 Users' Expectations of Website Improvement

6 Conclusions and Recommendations

Information technology transforms the nature of competition (Porter and Millar,
1985). NTOs also need to compete with other destinations to gain customers. The
Internet not only enables NTOs to directly reach a wider audience than ever but also
increases the competition in the market. Consumers are now looking for more
specialised information and ask for better services. By studying consumers'
requirements, marketers can understand their decision process and further influence
how consumers behave.

This research revealed that firstly, users' desired information generally pertains to
transportation, local maps and accommodation, which are necessary for planning their
trips. Secondly, information quality contributed to the website satisfaction more than
system quality. Thirdly, the website satisfaction is positively correlated to the
intention to reuse and recommendation of the website to other users. However, the
intention to actually visit Singapore is un-correlated to the website satisfaction due to
the complexity of travel decision-making process. Lastly, although most users
(71.53%) felt satisfied with the website and a further 19.46% of users were very
satisfied, only 2.3% of users consider that the information on the website is enough.
It indicates that there are still various aspects for website improvement; therefore,
NTOs should continuously ascertain customers' satisfactions and experiences on their
visitation to the website by the e-Satisfaction model developed in this study.

It is also suggested that NTOs headquarters should work closely with their overseas
offices to reach their customers in source countries by providing a quality website.
Website maintenance can be seen as an on-going task for NTOs to keep the
information appropriate and accurate in an easy-to-find manner. The tailored
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marketing strategies and the use of the Internet are the key factors in satisfying
customers and further generating tourism revenues for their countries.

A website as one of NTO's marketing platform needs to be integrated into NTO's

long-term strategies. Online and offline promotions are both essential for maintaining
contact with all potential customers. Thus, it is recommended that future research can
consider the needs of overall potential visitors rather than online users. Since current
website users are only part of the target, it is important to consider how to draw more
consumers' attention to NTO website so as to increase total visitor numbers to the
destinations. In addition to consumers, travel agents and media both work closely
with NTOs and can be seen as one of the determinants that can influence consumers'
travel decisions. More effort should be placed in studying this area to find out how
NTO websites can better cater for their needs.

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